Not “Friendly” Enough

This Common Core math problem asks kids to write the ‘friendly’ answer, instead of the correct one!

A second grader’s answers to a Common Core-aligned math worksheet were marked as incorrect because they weren’t “friendly” enough… even though they were the right answers.

A screenshot of the worksheet was posted to Twitter. The teacher wrote that even though the questions — addition and subtraction problems — were solved correctly, the student used the wrong technique to arrive at the answers.

“Correct answers, but let’s find the ‘friendly’ numbers,” wrote the teacher.

The teacher wanted the student to solve “530 – 270 = ?” in the following manner: First, add 30 to both numbers, changing the problem to “560 – 300 = ?”. These numbers are the “friendly” numbers, because they are supposedly easier to work with.

The student, however, simply subtracted 270 from 530 the good old-fashioned way, arriving at the same answer. Unfortunately, this is not a Common Core-approved technique.

Though friendly numbers can be useful, the worksheet illustrates the weird priorities of Common Core, according to Twitchy:

In Common Core math, it often is not good enough to get the correct answer. Instead, students are required to show “higher order” thinking skills — in this case, use of the associative property. Yes, the associative property is important and should be taught at some point. Unfortunately, we suspect that many 7-year olds will not be able to understand this particular assignment. With limited days in the school year, wouldn’t second graders — second graders! — be better off spending their time attempting to master the traditional subtraction algorithm?